Rhetta's January Post

I have not been keeping track of all we have been doing but it's been a fun month! We are using Rhetta's reading skills to our advantage in helping her learn how communication works verbally. I have been scripting a lot of what we do, but only on the fly. If I had an assistant I would have tons of cue cards made up by now that she can read.

Her fine motor seems, to me, to be stalled. She won't anchor her hand for writing and still mostly palms her writing instrument. I bought her a little wooden recorder and labeled the fingerholes so she can practice putting her fingers in required spots. I'm hoping that will help train her fingers to grip better which will hopefully bring her closer to holding that pencil. Her scissor work is much better but still very little control over the length of the cut. She has moved on from snips to cuts, though, so that's something. She's also starting to color and in the lines at that. Still not grasping the matching worksheets we do - drawing a line from the dog to the doghouse and the chicken to the henhouse, etc. Need to figure out a different approach to that.

Physically she's doing awesome. All we do anymore is dance it seems. This frigid weather has her cooped up indoors. She does not enjoy the cold at all, snow or no snow. Dancing around in her underwear however is her favorite pastime.

She does real well applying glue but gets frustrated when paint doesn't go where she wants it to go or drips somewhere she doesn't want it. She much prefers her dry erase still. It's really our greatest tool.

The playroom is a success so now the space in the living room is dedicated to school and floortime. Devon let us borrow a cute little bench and table set that fits perfectly in that corner. We picked it up this weekend and will use it for the first time tomorrow when I break out the art supplies again.

Rhetta has been showing a lot of interest in currency so she gets to name the coins when we get change back at the store. She also likes to separate them by denomination and count how many we have of each.

Much emphasis has been spent on the Wh questions. She doesn't answer questions like, "Where is the ball?" She doesn't show that they register at all. Her speech pathologist loaned us some flashcard-type sets of Who? Why? How? and When? - still waiting for the What? and Where? which are the two we needed to start with. Am going to get our copies at www.superduperinc.com very soon. Each card asks a question with an accompanying picture. The reverse of the card answers it also with an accompanying picture. Perfect for kids who think in pictures. Rhetta has taken to them pretty well. Time will tell if any of it is sinking in. They're fun, though, and she can learn all manner of things just from the Q & A alone.

Latest project is making her own thank you cards. I got frustrated with that so we're taking a break. I think I need to get a bunch of alphabet stickers at A Scrapbooker's Dream here in town so she can do them that way. That is oneof my sister's ideas and I like it.

I am also looking into dance classes and art classes and swimming lessons and maybe some music lessons. I'm super excited for Rhetta this year.

She'll continue doing 9 hours a week at preschool until summer break. Need to talk with them folks more about her new goals and getting everything into her IEP. Already talking about some hours in kindergarten next year. She really enjoys group music and outside play and stuff like Duck, Duck, Goose. The kids this year were frustrated with her at first but instead of shunning her most of them try to spend some time with her and are fascinated by her reading skills. I'm a little afraid of the mainstream public school we're looking at but if Montessori calls we're in until the 7th grade.

She really impressed me at how well she got along with Cameron this weekend after not seeing him for a year and a half. She was willing to share everything with him except for a couple of very special things. He respected that which was also awesome. He was her very first friend and I think she'll always love him the way she does. She was in his face frequently saying, "Hi Cameron!" and at one point hugged him spontaneously. That alone is unheard of from Rhetta. It just doesn't happen. I think some of the children at school hug her that way and of course we do all the time, and I mean all the time. She also hugs her brother spontaneously. It's just so sweet.

I am really enjoying the changes and surprises. I can't wait to report what new things she's done next month.